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My new Vanange doll has been such a sleeper hit. For how little I paid for her, I didn't expect to be this impressed with all of her good qualities and features. I added some face paint to her cheeks, brows, and eyes to make her look a bit more alive and full of the personality I've begun to appreciate.

I also decided to rename her, since she's going to be a different character than the 7-year-old Vanange made her. Her name is Althea and she's 13 years old. She was born in the Philippines but has lived most of her life in the United States. She likes iced coffee, fashion, and skateboarding!

She also has a new baby sister, Daniela.

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@rienerose asked for a comparison with an AG doll:

They have similar proportions from head to toe, and Faith can fit into pretty much any AG clothes I've put her in. There are some small differences, though. Faith's hands are a bit bigger, so tops with small arm holes may be a minor struggle. Her shoulders and upper torso are a bit slimmer, so shirts can be just a tiny bit loose. And her feet are a bit chubbier at the top with a bigger angle, so shoes with straps like sandals and close-fitting shoes like sneakers don't fit as well, if at all.

I do highly recommend these dolls as friends for AG dolls. I know they're often listed for ridiculous prices; don't pay those! You absolutely can get one for much less if you're okay with not having the original box, outfit, and/or wig.

This cool kid had a successful eye swap operation, got her ears pierced, and picked out a permanent wig! I decided not to keep her as her canon book character, so her new name is Faith (a tribute to her origin) and she's a modern girl. She's eleven years old, is Catholic, loves horses, plays softball, and does modern dance. She has two moms, and wears her rainbow beanie to show her pride and love for them.

I will very soon be making a post about how I replaced her eyes. It was super easy and turned out great. Discolored eyes is a very common problem with A Life of Faith dolls, so I know a lot of people would benefit from learning how to fix it.

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The oldest dolls in my collection might actually be these two little babies!

Last month my mom went to a doll show and spotted these being sold. She had no idea what they were, but sent me a picture and asked if I wanted them for the 1:6 scale miniature doll room I'm currently working on.

I said yes immediately, because seeing that picture awakened a very old memory, and a quick Google search did confirm that these are called Tiny Blessing dolls and they were first released by Bandai in 1987. These ones are two of the six total babies produced. Read more about them here.

I don't exactly know how I recognize them, though. I may have owned one, or maybe I played with them at preschool or a friend's house. But I'm so glad I have them because I think they're just so cute and charming. I was able to identify them as Tiny Sarah on the left and Tiny Katherine on the right. They're very very small, no bigger than 3 inches, which is perfectly sized for my mini room.

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Springtime princess outfit! Feels like something Rose could wear exploring a garden 🩷 🌸🌼

Up close pic of the boots because I think they're so cute! They're ILY 4EVER so they were a little hard getting on but I tried the trick of slicing down the back of them and it worked great!

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I saw this going around on AGIG and the AG subreddit and I need AG tumblr to see this too

I have no words

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This cool kid had a successful eye swap operation, got her ears pierced, and picked out a permanent wig! I decided not to keep her as her canon book character, so her new name is Faith (a tribute to her origin) and she's a modern girl. She's eleven years old, is Catholic, loves horses, plays softball, and does modern dance. She has two moms, and wears her rainbow beanie to show her pride and love for them.

I will very soon be making a post about how I replaced her eyes. It was super easy and turned out great. Discolored eyes is a very common problem with A Life of Faith dolls, so I know a lot of people would benefit from learning how to fix it.

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Doll brands I never thought I'd own, part 3: Vanange

Vanange dolls were first released in 2008 and went defunct a few years later. They were a line of seven dolls all representing seven-year-old girls from around the world, who are pen pals with each other. The doll I am introducing here is Luz, who is from the Philippines.

This was a brand I was vaguely aware of, but didn't know much about due to it being discontinued, and there is only a little information still out there about them. Then I stumbled across the listing for Luz, and she was so inexpensive that after thinking it over for a few days, I decided to give it a shot and bring her into the family.

I was astonished when I pulled her out of the box and realized that she's not 18 inches tall; she's actually closer to 20 inches! I hadn't known that before. It was a nice surprise, since I do like the larger size. She's also built really sturdy, and her wig is lovely quality. Her red and white dress is beautifully made. Her eyes open and close, and she is articulated at the neck, hips, and shoulders. The upper part of her torso is vinyl and the rest is cloth.

She is closer in size and proportions to a Karito Kids doll than she is to an American Girl doll. Her head is the biggest out of the three dolls. Karito Kids get most of their height from the longer leg length, but Luz's legs are a bit shorter

She can wear American Girl clothes and Karito Kids clothes, and they can wear her dress comfortably. The shoe situation is a bit different; Luz's feet are thinner but about the same length as an AG doll's foot, so shoes will be hit or miss. On the right she's wearing Maplelea brand shoes.

And here she is in a couple more American Girl outfits.

And some clothes that I made. The picture on the right shows how she can stand unsupported and hold poses without falling over.

I love to see dolls whose hands aren't identical to each other, which is more realistic. Luz's fingers are individually molded rather than clumped together.

While I am very pleased with her, I believe she might need a bit of work done on her face. I think she'd look better with some color in her cheeks and maybe her eyebrows and lower eyelashes repainted. Stay tuned for that.

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Marietta got her ears pierced and got a new wig! I decided I didn't like the bangs and the big ringlets, so now she is rocking the soft tight curls.

Marietta is a Starpath doll, a brand that made beautiful dolls before quietly going out of business.

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Part 2 of doll brands I never thought I'd own: Creatology.

These adorable dolls used to be sold at Michael's craft stores, and they went defunct a few years ago, before I had a chance to get any of the four of them. I hadn't had a lot of luck finding one secondhand until recently, when I stumbled across this sweet girl in perfect shape and for pretty cheap!

She has rooted hair, eyes that open and close, cloth torsos, and vinyl limbs. She has the same friendly face mold that the other three dolls have. She can wear American Girl clothes, but they are a bit loose on her since she is slightly slimmer and has smaller feet.

Her original name was Zoey, but I already have a Zoe, so I'm still in the process of picking out a new name.

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This week's doll project is Millie from the brand A Life of Faith, one of the brands I never thought I'd own, but I recently took a second look and decided I wanted one in my collection.

A Life of Faith is a defunct brand of 18 inch dolls based on the Elsie Dinsmore book series, first published in the 19th century. The dolls were introduced in the late 1990s. They have all-vinyl bodies with bent elbows so their hands can hold a praying position. I'm very impressed with how well strung she is, making the hand position look quite natural, without needing to be up near her face for them to come together. She fits into American Girl clothes pretty easily, although the shoes are hit or miss.

The wig she's wearing is not her original wig; it's one I pulled from my stash may or may not be the wig she ends up wearing permanently. I'll decide that once her new eyes arrive. What you see here are also not her original eyes; those turned red, and the seller replaced them with these purple eyes. I am not a fan of the purple eyes, so she will be getting brown eyes.

Ultimately I'll be renaming her and turning her into a modern character, since I'm not very interested in the books.

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It's a late 80s-early 90s party!

Shamsa, Tabitha and Lila, in shorts, are ready for summer, Louisa's fringed jacket look is good for transitional weather; Blaire, LaRae and Annika are ready for cooler days.

I am super bad at taking pano, pictures, here are some closer shots

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Came home today with a big lot of Pleasant Company Molly things and I’m pretty sure this is an early Bennet!

He came with the collar and leash that matches early Bennet dogs.

No PC tag but he has a Made in Germany sticker.

And omg he is so dang cute! That wee little nose (boop).

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On Friday I lost an auction for an extremely rare doll from an incredibly rare and obscure defunct brand--I put in a super high bid but someone else did too, which floored me. I'm heartbroken and grieving over that, knowing I may never see that doll for sale again. That hurts bad. I even went as far as messaging the seller saying I would pay them more money than the winning bid, but never got a response. Although I understand it's maybe not the most ethical thing to do and is probably against eBay policies.

But it's not like I don't have any new dolls coming into my life soon........ right? I've been lucky in that regard, and they've all been under $30. So the only upside to losing the auction is that I was able to use the money I would have spent there to get dolls from a couple of different defunct brands that I never thought I'd own.

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Raphaela enjoyed visiting the beach while camping at Possum Kingdom State Park. Bonus picture of her strolling among the wildflowers!

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This is my new Kidz and Cats doll, Raphaela (originally named Laura).

I've wanted a Kidz and Cats doll for a while now, but never saw one at an affordable price until very recently. They are a defunct brand and so secondhand is the only way to find these dolls. They're super cute with lovely face molds designed by Sonja Hartmann. Like a lot of European made dolls, they have multiple points of articulation and are strung with elastic.

She has wigged hair, eyelashes, and inset glass eyes that do not close. I moved her wig to the side to give her a side part.

She can bend at her shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, and neck.

She has a slim, all-vinyl body and can bend her knees when she sits.

Compared to American Girl dolls, Kidz and Cats dolls are the same height, but are much more petite with smaller proportions. Her head is a whole size smaller than AG dolls. She is too thin to comfortably wear most AG clothes, which is also pretty typical for European-made dolls.

AG shoes fit them pretty well, though! Raphaela's feet are a bit slimmer, but are more or less the same length as an AG's foot.

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Some of my favorite photos my family and I got when we went to AG Dallas this weekend!

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Courtney spent the afternoon at Smiley's video game arcade, at Orange Valley Mall, trying out some of the new games. Her favorite game is still Pac-Man, but Samantha Spree and Cosmic Crusade are pretty fun!

Courtney's outfit and games made by me. Check out the link on my Doll Crafts tab to see how I built her arcade games.